Gerald Marquis Pritcher, Sr., 92 of Atlanta, GA, passed away on February 27, 2016. He was born on a farm in Okatie, SC, on March 31, 1923. He graduated from Bluffton, High School and attended Armstrong College in Savannah, GA. His father knew the hardship of working a farm, and urged him to go to work on the railroad. He then began his near 40-year-career with Southern Railway. He went through Army basic training, but was more useful during the war as a telegraph operator and dispatcher directing troop trains. Gerald was on duty when the funeral train was dispatched to Warm Springs upon the death of President Roosevelt. Before retiring he was Superintendent of Transportation for the Eastern Division.
Gerald was a longtime member of Druid Hills Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon, on the finance committee, board of trustees, and then as deacon emeritus. He was a member of the Newton Sunday School Class. He took great pride in a strong work ethic and family values, as well as his Okatie roots, visiting frequently with family in the South Carolina Low Country. He was predeceased by his parents, Asbury and Ina Pritcher, and his brother, Wayne “Babe” Pritcher, and was followed in death four days after by Jeannine, his wife of 67 years.
The family will receive friends Friday night, April 1, from 6 until 8 o’clock in the evening at Patterson’s Spring Hill Funeral Home, with memorial service to follow on April 2nd at 1 o’clock in the afternoon at Druid Hills Baptist Church, 1098 Ponce de Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30306. Family will greet family and friends in the parlor immediately following the service.
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